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Lots of Monkey Love at our Vegan Spirituality Retreat

Lots of Monkey Love at our Vegan Spirituality Retreat

Our first Vegan Spirituality Retreat at Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary was love at first sight with the adorable monkey residents! Special thanks to the Jungle Friends staff who welcomed our group of forty guests with open arms as we explored veganism as a spiritual practice through yoga, meditation, an animal blessing, and inspiring presentation by Rae Sikora of Plant Peace Daily.

We gathered together to make new friends, release our sorrow, and celebrate our vegan values. Rae’s insightful presentation warmed our hearts and motivated us to deepen and expand our activism. The animal blessing ceremony provided a supportive space to honor our beloved animal companions and to express our feelings about animal suffering. We offered a communal blessing for the monkey residents and for animals around the world.

Here’s what retreat-goers had to say about our amazing day together:

“This event exceeded my expectations! I feel a sense of place and release I have never felt before. I received closure from the past and hope for the future.”

“My experience of the retreat was above and beyond my imagination! Rae was incredibly insightful and inspiring.”

“I feel empowered to be a better vegan and learned new ways to be compassionate towards non-vegans.”

This lovely blessing was written and recited by “Peace to All Beings” author Judy Carman during the animal blessing ceremony:

The Primates’ Prayer

How blissful it is when our hearts awaken
To the vast and mighty oceans of Universal Love.
All life is sacred and interconnected.
May we be messengers of Divine mercy and compassion
Wherever we go.

On this special day at Jungle Friends we pray for all the primates of the world:
The gorillas, chimpanzees, monkeys, baboons,
Orangutans, bonobos, and all other primates.

So many are suffering in zoos, circuses, and laboratories.
Others are being hunted and killed or captured.
A few still live in their homelands with their families
But are in danger from hunters and habitat loss.
We know they are sacred, perfect, amazing beings—
Divine expressions of Love.

May we be messengers of light and liberation. May we pray with all the power we have
For all the members of the primate nations--
For their freedom from suffering at the hands of human beings.
And may we especially pray and hold the high watch for Jungle Friends—
This sacred sanctuary where rescued monkeys have found safety and freedom.

We ask for special blessings for Kari and all the heroic people who have helped
To save these precious monkeys.
May the light and love that continually streams from their hearts and our hearts
Open the hearts of all people to the suffering of all primates everywhere.
May all find a sanctuary of their own. May all primates be safe and happy and free.

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